A World Of Gray (Until You)
by moosealecki
Summary: Yao's life is dull, boring and dreary. Everyday is the same. The same routine, seeing the same people, doing the same things, going to the same places. Then he runs into a stranger. Literally. Will this stranger turn Yao's world upside down and brighten his life? Or will Yao fade away into nothingness and become another living ghost? RoChu mostly, features other pairings. ON HIATUS
1. Another Day

**A/N; This is my first Hetalia fic, I just noticed the lack of RoChu fics and decided to fix that. Umm so if there's anything you want to request PM me or leave a review and I'll do my best! This is unbeta'ed and I'd love it if you pointed out any errors! Pairings; RoChu (of course), Franada, Gerita, PruHun, etc.**

Yao was tired. No, he wasn't just tired. He was bone-deep, dead on his feet, exhausted.  
After another long day of squinting through a microscope at minuscule white blood cells, earnestly searching for a difference, Yao needed a pick-me-up. Sadly that required walking in the crisp outside air.

Sighing, he took a right, hugging his arms to himself in an ineffective attempt to keep warm, and slowly meandered down 1st street until coming to Cobblestone Bakery, a quaint little cafe with some of the most delicious chocolate croissants you could imagine.

He opened the door, the little bell attached to the top tinkling, and walked inside, basking in the comfortingly warm air that cut through the chill of the fall evening. The smell of pastries baking, freshly ground coffee, and warm vanilla swirled around him, luring him forward.

"Bonjour Yao, another long day, no? The usual, mon chere?" said Francis, the barista, with a coquettish smile.

"Yes, and what do you mean the usual there is no way you can remember my order! And don't call me that!" Yao replied indignantly.

"Ohhonhonhon, somebody's touchy today. One medium oolong tea and one blueberry muffin." Yao's jaw dropped. " Mon ami, I always remember my courants orders." The Frenchman smirked, knowing he'd won. Yao opened his mouth, face flushed with embarrassment, then he clamped it shut realizing that he'd lost.

"Yes the usual." he sighed as he gave up, shoulders sagging.

"That'll be $4.28, you need to lighten up Yao, after all these long days, you should go pull a long night, if you know what I mean," he said, the last part accompanied by a flirtatious wink.

"I don't understand what you're saying!" Yao snapped, flustered, as he thrust his credit card into Francis' outstretched palm. As Francis opened his mouth, most likely to explain to poor Yao what he had meant, a quiet timid voice piped up from behind Francis.

"H-hey d-don't pick on Yao, eh? He's h-had a l-long day of hard work and d-doesn't want this."

Francis turned, revealing Matthew, glimmering violet eyes peering out from behind his glasses, head facing down in a cautious manner.

"Yes mon ami." he said, lifting his loves' head with a hand under his chin. His blue eyes adoringly holding the shimmering purple ones captive, until his eyes came upon a stray smear of sugar on his cheek," Oh what is this? We can't have anything marring your perfection," he cooed.

"W-What are y-" The Canadian was quickly cut off by Francis' lips pressing down on his cheek, worrying away at the spot of offense.

"Mmm so sweet," he said, pulling a small ways away to breathe, satisfied that the sugar was gone from Matthews' face, and then leaned in again, "Not as sweet as you though," he whispered as he captured his fiancées lips with his own, teasing his tongue with tantalizing swirls and tasting the syrupy sweetness that was Matthew.

"I'm still right here you know!" Yao exclaimed, after this had gone on for a while, flushing pink with embarrassment at the rather long display of affection. Matthew pulled out of Francis' embrace, disentangling himself from the Frenchman. Francis reached out, as if to pull the smaller man back to himself, only to have Matthews hands press lightly against his chest, halting his movement. Francis pouted, thinking his advances unwanted. Matthew leaned up on his tippy toes and whispered something in Francis' ear.

"Vraiment?" Francis questioned, eyes widening into a look of shock. Matthew nodded, making his adorable curl on his head bob up and down. The Frenchman's eyes glazed over, a light pink blush dusting his cheeks, picturing whatever Matthew had just promised him. He smirked, leaned in for one last taste of those soft pink lips and turned towards Yao and handed his credit card back.

Yao awkwardly took the card, stiffly shoving it back into its spot in his wallet. He hoped he'd never find out what it was that made **Francis** of all people blush.

"Your tea will be up in a bit," Francis said, bending down and pulling out the tray of muffins from the glass display. He plucked two blueberry muffins from the selection and placed them on a beautiful china plate. As he was doing this, Matthew was bustling around the kitchen, setting a kettle of water on the stove top to boil.

Yao took his plate and made his way to his favorite table in the front right corner, where he could reach the Wi-Fi of the library across the street. Pulling his E-reader out, he settled into the mind of Ender Wiggin, brain filled with strategies to stop the Buggers and a great leader. Ender was currently in his first training room session, was pushing off the platform and-

"H-here's your tea Mr. Wang," Matthew stammered, seating down a preciously adorable teapot formed in the shape of a cupcake, accompanied by a teacup and saucer with little flowers painted on them. Yao flinched, being dragged from his fantasy by the arrival of his tea.

"It's just Yao," he corrected automatically, eagerly grabbing his teapot and pouring himself a steaming cup. "Thank you..."

"Oh! It's M-Mathew Mr. W-Yao" the Canadian stuttered," Will th-that be all?" Yao nodded, releasing Matthew. The younger man bobbed his head, turned on his heel and returned to his kitchens.

Yao walked through his apartment door, shutting and locking the door behind him. He hung his keys up on the hook next to the door and took his shoes off on the mat. Stretching his arms above his head, he walked through his living room and down the hall to his bedroom.

Yao unbuttoned his work shirt throwing it into the bamboo hamper in front of his closet. Undoing his pants button, and zipper, he pulled those off as well as his socks. He pulled on a pair of plain red pajama pants over his star and moon briefs. Tugging on a loose white tank top he crawled into bed, pulling the covers close around him and fell asleep to hopeful thoughts about what tomorrow might bring.


	2. Coat

A/N): Hello, it's me again! I'm so sorry it took me so long to post this there's has been a lot of stuff happening and yeah. I did a lot of research for this story so if something's wrong let me know! Please fav/follow/review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia

Warning: Contains yaoi; Franada, GerIta, (RoChu eventually I swear)

I've hidden another ship in here, spot it and you'll get a fic of your choice!:D Submit answer in a review or a PM (preferably) First Five only!

* * *

***Beep*Beep*Beep*Beep*Beep***

Yao opened his eyes, the blurry aftereffects of sleep swirling the room. He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, clearing his vision and sat up, twisting to face the right side of his bed. He got up, arms stretching above his head, as he let out a little yawn.

He walked out of his bedroom and turned into the first door on his right, the bathroom. Yao clumsily grasped his toothbrush from the plain white ceramic glass he used to hold it. He squeezed a dollop of mint toothpaste onto the bristles and vigorously scrubbed his teeth.

Spitting the foamy substance from his mouth, Yao grabbed the cup next to the right faucet and filled it with water. He took a large gulp and swished it around his mouth, removing the last remains of the paste and spat it into the sink. Yao turned the faucet back on again, rinsing it down the drain and stopped the flow of water once it was gone.

Yao reached upwards and behind his head, undoing the sleep-mussed ponytail. Setting the red ribbon down on the counter, he ran a bit of water into his hands, forming them in the shape of a bowl, and scrubbed his face. Tendrils of hair stuck to the sides of his cheeks, stubbornly grasping onto his cheekbones.

He ran his hands through his hair, trying to set some sort of order. When that failed, Yao sighed and pulled a hairbrush out of the top left drawer below his sink. He stood and brushed his long soft hair until it cascaded down past his shoulders. Yao swept his hair back, allowing a few rebellious strands of hair to fall forward, and tied it back with a green ribbon.

Yao looked upwards at his reflection. Peering back at him was a pair of dull caramel eyes; framed with long girly lashes, dark bags beginning to form under his eyes, his ebony hair framing his pallid angular face, thin pale lips. His bangs were uneven and stuck out at odd angles. _Not that it matters, it's just work_, he rationalized, _Nobody will care anyways.  
_  
With face scrubbed clean, hair relatively in check, Yao walked into the kitchenette and opened the fridge. The fridge was fairly full, Yao did keep a decent stock of food available at all times in case of guests.

He settled on a cup of cherry Greek yogurt and a granola bar to pack for lunch. The last time his little brother, Kiku had visited with his boyfriend, he had been introduced to the wonders that were Greek yogurt and had loved it ever since. He stuffed the food into his favorite panda lunchbox, shoving an Arizona green tea at the bottom.

Yao stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what was off. Then he looked down to be greeted by his pajamas. _Gǒupì. _He glanced up at the clock above the oven, (8:11), _9 minutes, I can do this!_

Yao sprinted to his bedroom, jerking open the closet doors. He hastily yanked on a pale purple work shirt, and a pair of loose black slacks. He grabbed a pair of socks and ran to the living room and plopped down on the couch. Reaching towards his left, he pulled his shoes towards him. He yanked on his socks quickly, shoved his feet into his shoes and rapidly tied them in some sort of knot. Satisfied that he was properly dressed, he picked up his wallet, placing it in his left front pocket and grabbed his phone, which went into his right back pocket. While pulling his keys off of their hook, he nervously checked the time. 8:20. Smirking, he strode out the door, determined to catch his bus.

* * *

Yao arrived at work with time to spare, 2 whole minutes. He ran his ID card through the security door and waited for the light to turn green and for the door to unlock. *Click* ":_Greetings Wang, Yao. You may enter_:," the automated female voice said.

Yao walked in, taking the first left and turning into the locker room. The locker room is where all of their lab coats were kept while they were off-duty. He peered through the shelves until he came to shelf #23, Yao's location of storage.

He unfolded the long white coat and held it away from his body for inspection. Above the left breast pocket was a white label, embroidered in a pastel yellow thread was _Wang Yao_. Below his name was his title and position _ M.D Head of Immunology Research_

Yao's nose crinkled as he plucked an offensive piece of lint clinging to the back of the coat. He tugged the coat on, pulling his arms through the white long sleeves and straightening it. Yao clipped his ID card to the convenient left breast pocket.

The longhaired man walked out into the room across the hall. The staff room was where they kept their lunches, drank copious amounts of coffee, and avoided work. It had an irremovable stench of old lasagna, the wall panels were moldy, and there were a few suspicious stains on the counter. The fridge contained anything from a sandwich to a culture of E. Coli bacteria. Literally.

Yao reached past the moldy remains of what had probably once been a slice of cheese, gagging on the thick odor. He squeezed his bag in-between a spotless stainless-steel lunchbox that he knew to be Ludwig's and a suspicious looking salad.

Ludwig was basically the only colleague he was on friendly terms of. Mostly because the German was the one person who Yao had to interact with to do his job. Not that this was a bad thing; they got along quite well, both being relatively neat and meticulous. Occasionally Yao's need to break the silence with awkward chatter would irritate the German, as well as how Ludwig's short temper would bug Yao. Since the blond man had met his Italian boyfriend though, he had become more relaxed and less tense.

Yao shut the fridge door, hoping that the moldy salad wouldn't taint his small lunch. Or touch his panda lunchbox as it is a collectible.

He quickly left the cramped, foul room and walked down the hallways until Yao came to his working space. Again he slid his ID card throughout the reader and impatiently waited while the system processed it. Once positive identification had been made the door opened, with the automated voice reminding him to put on gloves and goggles before going to his workstation in the lab. _Really, it's like they think we're little 8th graders dissecting a frog._ Yao rolled his eyes, then strode into the sterile, white, fluorescent, room.

Ludwig was already bent over his microscope, various petri dishes in organized rows around him.

"You're late," he said without even glancing up from his work.

"No I'm not, it was 9:00 when I walked in to the building," Yao retorted indignantly. He walked over to the special storage fridge they had where they kept their white blood cell petri dishes only to find his gone. Yao paused, puzzled at this turn of events.

"I pulled yours out already," the German said, pointing at the row of glass dishes on his right.

"Thank you," Yao said, eyebrows raised in surprise. _He must have had a date with Feliciano last night  
_  
He slid the dishes over to his counter and started taking samples from the dishes and putting them onto slides to analyze their progress so far. Ludwig and Yao are the lead researchers for a study of an experimental vaccine.

For this vaccine, white blood cells are removed from the patient's blood and exposed to a protein found on many AML cells called Wilms' tumor 1 protein. These cells are then given back to the patient through an IV. In the body, the cells induce other immune system cells to attack the patient's leukemia. At least, that was the theory. Finding the exact chromosome that manipulated the amino acids to create the correct protein was proving quite difficult.

Yao could already feel the hopelessness creeping back into his body. They hadn't made any progress in months, and he felt as if they might never find anything. He peered over at Ludwig to see how he was doing. The Germans blue eyes were peering intently at his current slide, stopping momentarily only to take some notes on whatever he was observing. Yao shook his head. _I don't understand how he can be so focused and determined. We haven't found anything yet, what's the point? _Yao slid the first slide into the microscope and sighed listlessly.

One more uneventful day of work.

* * *

*Ding Ding* *Ding Ding*

The little alarm on Ludwig's watch went off, signaling the end of the day, 7:00 in the evening to be precise. Yao quickly replaced both of their petri dishes in their cool storage environment while Ludwig cleaned and replaced their microscopes along with the other equipment that they had used.

This was their daily routine as it allowed them to put everything away faster so that they could go. In the Germans' case that was returning to his apartment for a stay-at-home dinner with Feliciano. For Yao it was probably another hot cup of tea and a blueberry muffin. If he felt like doing something really crazy, Yao might even have a chocolate chip one.

"Gute nacht," said Ludwig as he held the door open for Yao to pass through.

"Wǎn'ān," replied Yao as he always did. He hung his lab coat up in the locker room on the way out. Before the Chinese man realized it he was patting the empty area next to it, searching for his winter coat. Which he'd left at home in his hurry to get to work.

Frustrated with his work, his day, his life, and the upcoming horrid cold walk to the cafe, Yao banged his head against the wall and let out a long string of Cantonese cuss words. He continued muttering them under his breath as he flung open the door only to find that it had started raining_. Tā mā de dà_ Not only would Yao be miserably cold but now he'd be soaking wet as well.

The longhaired man grit his teeth and stomped down the street, arms wrapped tight around himself, eyes pointed directly at the ground. He could feel the chill bite through his thin work shirt and nip at his toes. Dark spots were forming in teardrop patterns on the fabric of his pants and top, the rain dripping through. Lost in his self-pity and berating himself for forgetting his coat, he didn't see the figure until-

"Yúchǔn de wàiyī, yúchǔn de yǔ-Ooof!" Yao stumbled back, nearly slipping and falling but he caught himself in time. Whoever he'd run into was really sturdy. "Watch where you are going!" Yao snapped, briskly shoving past the tall stranger.

"Da," said a heavily accented voice. But Yao was already gone, berating the world for stupid big strangers not knowing how to use a sidewalk.

* * *

(A/N): Yep that was Ivan :3 Silly Yao needs to turn around and kiss him. Poor Russia:( ...Anyways yes crappy ending is crappy, sorry, but don't worry Ivan is not done yet! (Obviously lol) Sorry this took so long again! Updates should be a bit more frequent now but I make no promises. Please review/fav/follow! They make my day forever:) (And I might update more;)

Translations:

_Gǒupì_= Shit

_Wǎn'ān_= Good Night

_Gute Nacht_= Good Night

_Tā mā de dà= _Fucking great

_Yúchǔn de wàiyī, yúchǔn de yǔ= _Stupid Coat, Stupid Rain

I speak Google translate, if any of these translations are wrong, please let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

Update: This story is on hiatus until summer vacation. I don't have the time to continue working on it right now, but it is not dead. I will be writing, just not posting. Sorry for the inconvenience D:


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